Data technology is being used to an increasing extent in the communications industry to carry various types of signals and data. In telephone communications, for example, the use of data lines between central offices and individual residential and business subscribers has allowed for large increases in signal traffic and improved signal quality. Telecommunications circuitry is generally housed in telecommunications cabinets placed at or near the subscriber locations, with a single cabinet typically serving a large number of individual subscribers. In telecommunications cabinets, racks or banks of circuits are provided in the form of slide-out circuit boards that are easily removed from the equipment rack when repair or replacement is needed. Due to the large number of circuit boards housed in a telecommunications cabinet, an even greater number of cables, including, but not limited to, fiber optic and copper cables, are also housed in the telecommunications cabinet. The numerous cables tend to interfere with access to the various components and circuit boards housed in the telecommunications cabinet.
Because data cables are often manufactured in standard lengths with connectors already attached at both ends, cables are generally used that are longer than needed when making connections to a circuit board. The excess cable length allows equipment racks and individual circuit boards to be removed and replaced at a different location in the telecommunications cabinet, should this become necessary. However, the excess cable must be stored in some way, which presents problems in the management of a large number of cables housed in conventional telecommunications cabinets. Because data cables can be fragile and cannot be bent or deformed in the same manner that electrical wires can, it is difficult to compactly and efficiently manage the cables.
The excess cables are often allowed to remain exposed at the front of the equipment rack. Unfortunately, the exposed cables obscure the various printed indicia, visual indicators and circuit board extractors usually provided on the front panel of the equipment rack, and occupies valuable space within the cabinet that might otherwise be devoted to other hardware. The presence of the cables within the cabinet also requires that additional space be provided in the interior of the telecommunications cabinet, thereby requiring a somewhat deeper cabinet than might otherwise be desired. The exposed cable is also susceptible to damage from personnel working within the cabinet because of the cables' fragility, and can expose repair personnel to potential eye injury from laser light if a cable becomes inadvertently detached from the connectors on the circuit boards. Finally, the exposed cables, including, but not limited to, fiber optic and copper cables, are aesthetically undesirable, since it creates an unsightly appearance (a “rat's nest” of cables) in the interior of the telecommunications cabinet, which also makes tracking individual cables extremely difficult.
Another problem that occurs with unmanaged cables is that the cables interfere with work done by personnel in the telecommunications cabinet. Personnel often must move cable out of the way in the area in which they are working, thereby subjecting the cable to undesirable bending or flexing. Furthermore, due to the large number of cables within the telecommunications cabinet, personnel often accidentally bump into or move the cables. Due to the fragility of the cables, small degrees of bending or flexing may damage or even break the cables.
Existing telecommunications rack systems often have channels along the sides of the racks in which the cables are run. By using these channels, the above-mentioned problems concerning cable management can be avoided. However, the same cable management issues are now present in those channels. Covers are often attached to the channels to cover the cabling, thereby eliminating the unsightly appearance of the cabling. However, a problem exists because those channel covers are attached in such a manner that the generally requires the covers to be completely removed to access the cabling. Thus, any changes and modifications to the cabling and/or equipment housed in the telecommunications rack system requires the cover to be completely removed from the channels so that the associated cabling can be accessed. Removing the covers to access the cabling is inefficient and requires an excessive amount of time. Other Therefore, a need exists for a bracket assembly that connects the cover to the channel that does not require the cover to be removed to access the channel.
Thus, there is a continuing need to provide improved swing hinged bracket assemblies.